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Marriage and Divorce: How the Law Changed

For most of history a marriage was a status fixed by the church and the husband's authority, a divorce was almost impossible and a wife had little legal existence apart from her husband. This chart follows three jurisdictions through the same three questions: what marriage is and who may enter it, how it can end, and what each spouse may do alone. The countries move at different speeds and in different orders: France made marriage civil and divorce lawful in 1792, then took divorce away again, while England required a private Act of Parliament for each divorce until 1857.

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1750180018501900195020002050England and Wales1753: Hardwicke's Marriage Act1836: Civil marriage1857: Civil divorce courts1870: Married women keep their earnings1882: Married women's property1923: Equal ground of adultery1929: Minimum age of marriage1937: More grounds for divorce1969: Irretrievable breakdown1991: Rape within marriage2005: Civil partnership2014: Marriage for same-sex couples2022: No-fault divorceUnited States1839: First married women's property law1848: New York Married Women's Property Act1878: Polygamy banned1967: Interracial marriage1970: No-fault divorce begins1974: Credit without a husband's signature1993: Rape within marriage2003: Same-sex marriage in Massachusetts2010: No-fault divorce in every state2015: Same-sex marriage nationwideFrance1792: Civil marriage1792: Divorce legalised1804: The Civil Code1816: Divorce abolished1884: Divorce restored1938: End of the wife's legal incapacity1965: Wives work and bank on their own1970: Joint parental authority1975: Divorce by mutual consent1990: Rape within marriage1999: The PACS2013: Marriage for same-sex couples

1753England and Wales· What marriage is and who may marry

Hardwicke's Marriage Act

Marriages in England and Wales had to be performed in the Church of England after banns or a licence to be valid, ending informal 'clandestine' marriages. Quakers and Jews were exempt, and the Act did not apply to Scotland.

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These charts show the main turning points in the law of several countries, from our own knowledge. Each entry is one law or decision, dated by when it was passed or decided; the date it took effect is sometimes later. A chart is a map of turning points, not a complete history, and it records the law on paper, not how it was applied. Check the statutes and decisions named for the exact wording. It is general information, not legal advice.

The story in each country

England and Wales

From church-controlled marriage and divorce by private Act of Parliament, to civil marriage, equal property rights, no-fault divorce and marriage for same-sex couples.

United States

A state-by-state story, shaped by state legislatures and then by the Supreme Court: property rights for wives, no-fault divorce, and the constitutional right to marry.

France

The first civil marriage and divorce law in Europe, a long Napoleonic period of the husband's authority, and the equality reforms of the 1900s.

Every turning point, in order

England and Wales

  1. 1753 Hardwicke's Marriage Act

    What marriage is and who may marry

    Marriages in England and Wales had to be performed in the Church of England after banns or a licence to be valid, ending informal 'clandestine' marriages. Quakers and Jews were exempt, and the Act did not apply to Scotland.

  2. 1836 Civil marriage

    What marriage is and who may marry

    The Marriage Act 1836 allowed marriage before a registrar and in places of worship of other denominations, and civil registration of marriages began in 1837.

  3. 1857 Civil divorce courts

    Ending a marriage (divorce)

    The Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 created a divorce court. Before it, a divorce needed a private Act of Parliament. A husband could divorce for his wife's adultery, but a wife had to prove adultery and a further fault.

  4. 1870 Married women keep their earnings

    What each spouse may own and do

    The Married Women's Property Act 1870 let a wife keep her own earnings and some inherited property.

  5. 1882 Married women's property

    What each spouse may own and do

    The Married Women's Property Act 1882 let a married woman own and deal with all her property as if she were single, ending the old rule of coverture for property.

  6. 1923 Equal ground of adultery

    Ending a marriage (divorce)

    The Matrimonial Causes Act 1923 let a wife divorce on her husband's adultery alone, as a husband could.

  7. 1929 Minimum age of marriage

    What marriage is and who may marry

    The Age of Marriage Act 1929 set a minimum age of 16 for both sexes; before it, the common-law minimum was 14 for boys and 12 for girls.

  8. 1937 More grounds for divorce

    Ending a marriage (divorce)

    The Matrimonial Causes Act 1937 added desertion, cruelty and incurable insanity as grounds for divorce.

  9. 1969 Irretrievable breakdown

    Ending a marriage (divorce)

    The Divorce Reform Act 1969, in force from 1971, made the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage the sole ground, shown by one of five facts, including two years' separation with consent.

  10. 1991 Rape within marriage

    What each spouse may own and do

    In R v R the House of Lords held that a husband can be guilty of raping his wife, ending the old rule that marriage meant permanent consent. Parliament confirmed it in 1994.

  11. 2005 Civil partnership

    What marriage is and who may marry

    The Civil Partnership Act 2004, in force from December 2005, gave same-sex couples a legal status with rights close to those of marriage.

  12. 2014 Marriage for same-sex couples

    What marriage is and who may marry

    The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 allowed same-sex couples to marry in England and Wales, and the first marriages took place in March 2014.

  13. 2022 No-fault divorce

    Ending a marriage (divorce)

    The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, in force from April 2022, replaced the old facts with a statement that the marriage has broken down irretrievably, with no allegation of fault.

United States

  1. 1839 First married women's property law

    What each spouse may own and do

    Mississippi passed the first state law giving married women limited rights to own property, followed by other states over the next decades.

  2. 1848 New York Married Women's Property Act

    What each spouse may own and do

    New York let a wife keep property she owned before marriage and received afterwards. The same year, the Seneca Falls convention called for women's rights.

  3. 1878 Polygamy banned

    What marriage is and who may marry

    In Reynolds v. United States the Supreme Court held that a federal law against polygamy did not violate religious freedom.

  4. 1967 Interracial marriage

    What marriage is and who may marry

    In Loving v. Virginia the Supreme Court struck down state laws that banned marriage between people of different races.

  5. 1970 No-fault divorce begins

    Ending a marriage (divorce)

    California's Family Law Act, in force from 1970, allowed divorce without proving fault and set off a wave of similar laws in other states.

  6. 1974 Credit without a husband's signature

    What each spouse may own and do

    The Equal Credit Opportunity Act made it illegal to refuse credit because of sex or marital status, so women no longer needed a husband to co-sign.

  7. 1993 Rape within marriage

    What each spouse may own and do

    By 1993 every state had removed or narrowed the old rule that a husband could not be guilty of raping his wife.

  8. 2003 Same-sex marriage in Massachusetts

    What marriage is and who may marry

    In Goodridge v. Department of Public Health the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that the state could not deny marriage to same-sex couples, and the first marriages took place in 2004.

  9. 2010 No-fault divorce in every state

    Ending a marriage (divorce)

    New York became the last state to allow divorce without proof of fault.

  10. 2015 Same-sex marriage nationwide

    What marriage is and who may marry

    In Obergefell v. Hodges the Supreme Court held that the Constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry in every state.

France

  1. 1792 Civil marriage

    What marriage is and who may marry

    The law of 20 September 1792 made marriage a civil contract made before a public official and set up civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in place of the parish registers.

  2. 1792 Divorce legalised

    Ending a marriage (divorce)

    The same law of 1792 allowed divorce by mutual consent and on stated grounds, one of the most liberal divorce laws in Europe at that time.

  3. 1804 The Civil Code

    What each spouse may own and do

    The Napoleonic Civil Code kept civil marriage and divorce but placed the wife under her husband's authority: she owed him obedience and needed his permission for many acts.

  4. 1816 Divorce abolished

    Ending a marriage (divorce)

    A law of 8 May 1816, passed after the Bourbon restoration, abolished divorce; only separation of bed and board remained.

  5. 1884 Divorce restored

    Ending a marriage (divorce)

    The Naquet law of 27 July 1884 restored divorce, on grounds such as adultery, cruelty and a serious criminal conviction.

  6. 1938 End of the wife's legal incapacity

    What each spouse may own and do

    A law of 18 February 1938 ended the rule that a married woman was legally incapable, though the husband remained head of the household.

  7. 1965 Wives work and bank on their own

    What each spouse may own and do

    A law of 13 July 1965 let a wife work and open a bank account without her husband's permission and manage her own property.

  8. 1970 Joint parental authority

    What each spouse may own and do

    A law of 4 June 1970 replaced the husband's role as 'head of the family' with joint parental authority of both spouses.

  9. 1975 Divorce by mutual consent

    Ending a marriage (divorce)

    The law of 11 July 1975 introduced divorce by mutual consent and divorce for a breakdown of the marriage, alongside divorce for fault.

  10. 1990 Rape within marriage

    What each spouse may own and do

    In 1990 the Cour de cassation, France's highest court for civil and criminal cases, held that rape can be committed between spouses.

  11. 1999 The PACS

    What marriage is and who may marry

    The law of 15 November 1999 created the PACS, a civil solidarity pact open to unmarried couples of any sex.

  12. 2013 Marriage for same-sex couples

    What marriage is and who may marry

    The law of 17 May 2013 opened marriage and adoption to same-sex couples.

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